The intermediary between longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Friday that Assange is willing to meet with ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
During an interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, New York radio personality Randy Credico said Assange instructed him to communicate to Schiff that he was prepared to interview with the California Democrat.
Credico said that Assange was interested in speaking to Schiff to show “there is no collusion,” a reference to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
In response to the interview, Schiff’s office said that they would be interested in talking with Assange, but only if he is in U.S. custody.
“Our committee would be willing to interview Julian Assange when he is in U.S. custody, not before,” Schiff’s office said in a statement Friday.
Assange, who has lived in asylum at the Ecuadorian Embassy since 2012 in order to prevent extradition to Sweden due to allegations of sexual assault and rape, could be leaving the embassy “any day now.” Assange denies the allegations and Swedish prosecutors halted their investigation in 2017.
However, Assange could be arrested for violating bail conditions if he leaves the embassy, in which case, it is expected that he will be arrested by British authorities and extradited to the U.S. for prosecution.
In a statement posted to Twitter, WikiLeaks cast doubt on the Credico’s comments.
“Mr. Assange has not said anything about what he would speak about were such a circumstance to arise. He does not speak to the public through third parties. Only statements by his lawyers or [WikiLeaks] can be considered authoritative,” the statement said.
Schiff has been vocal about his belief that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. After Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee announced earlier this year that they found no evidence of collusion, Democrats, led by Schiff, pushed back and accused the Republicans of ending the probe prematurely.
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal unearthed emails that appeared to show Stone attempting to retrieve damaging information from Assange about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign.
Stone previously attracted scrutiny from investigators after he appeared to anticipate the publication of stolen documents on the WikiLeaks website, saying in 2016 on Twitter that Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s “time in the barrel” would soon occur.
Stone has denied ever having any early-access knowledge from WikiLeaks about the release of Podesta’s emails. Rather, he claimed the statement was based on his own investigations of Podesta and his brother Tony, noting that his tweet in fact said “the Podesta’s time in the barrel.”
Stone’s associates and finances are currently being examined by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the federal investigation into Russian interference in 2016 and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
WikiLeaks is well-known for publishing leaked secrets on its website. Among its controversial publications, the website has made public stolen emails from Democratic officials during the 2016 campaign as well as documents on CIA hacking tools.
A U.S. intelligence community assessment determined with “high confidence” last January that WikiLeaks was used by Russian intelligence to release information as part of an effort to elect Trump. WikiLeaks denies this assertion.
Editor’s note: Updated to include statement from WikiLeaks.
